Aref Al-Aref

(1891 - 1973)

Born in Jerusalem in 1891; studied in Turkey and conscripted into the Turkish army in
World War I; captured and spent three years in a camp in Siberia, from
where he escaped after the Russian Revolution and went back to Palestine;
editor of the first Arab nationalist newspaper Suriyya al-Janubbiyya,
published in Jerusalem in
1919; advocated a policy of militant but non-violent opposition to Zionism;
arrested during riots in 1920, escaped with fellow-accused Haj
Amin al-Husseini to Syria;
sentenced to 10 years in prison in absencia on charges of fomenting
the riots; transferred back to Pa-lestine in 1929; became civil servant
under the British Mandate (1933-48); District Administrative Officer in Beer
Sheba in 1936; then ministerial officer in Jordan;
appointed mayor of Jerusalem
(1950-55); author of Bedouin Love, Law and Legend, History
of Beersheba and Its Tribes, History of Gaza, and History
of Jerusalem; died on July 30, 1973, in Ramallah.